Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Part 1
Dec. 21st, 2019 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaOverall I enjoyed it.
As with all of the movies there are issues but I came out of the theatre more pleased than not. But, man, that end was an emotional roller coaster that I'm still not over. It gave some huge highs and lows. I'm finding the longer I sit with it the more dissatisfied I am with some of the choices made. I'm interested in how this shakes out for me long-term.
I'm going to start with two points of deep love and enjoyment:
+ That last shot of Force ghosts Luke and Leia, together after death, watching over Rey got me straight in the heart. They're together again. ♥♥ Not gonna lie I can forgive a lot just for that.
+ So much damn love for the Luke/Leia flashback. Luke trained Leia to be a Jedi! ♥ She had a lightsaber! (I want that movie.) Leia training Rey and Rey calling her Master Leia - ♥ Leia was Jedi Master Leia!! It made me so unbelievably happy.
Regardless of how else I might feel I love those two things so much and that's never going to change. On the other hand...
+ I am really so very bummed that Ben died! D: It honestly was a bit of a gut punch. I knew going in it there was a distinct possibility but I think I convinced myself it wouldn't happen? It didn't make sense to me as an ending. But as soon as I realised that Rey was really dead I knew there was an almost 100% chance Ben was going to die to save her. To use his life force to bring her back from the dead clearly had only one ending. But, ugh, I'm so sad about it! I mean I do prefer him choosing to give his life in exchange for Rey's to him being killed by Palpatine. That was great. But the longer I sit with it the more upset I feel about it, tbh. This isn't how his story should have ended! It's not how the Skywalker story should have ended. They've always been a tragedy but I wanted more than that for their end!
For Ben in himself this is so deeply sad. The Emperor twisted and corrupted him the same way he did his grandfather. He tells Kylo that "I was every voice inside your head" but the movies don't state how far back this goes. Was he influencing Ben his entire life? It's as if Ben never had a chance. And then Ben does choose better! He frees himself from the Dark and the Emperor's influence and chooses to do the right thing, only to die quicky afterwards. I find that so unsatisfying.
As an end to the Skywalker saga, as the the end to Ben and to Luke/Leia/Han's family this is not sitting well with me either. I was half expecting redemption and death but I really didn't want it. We're been there and done that at the beginning of the saga with Anakin. I wanted this story to end in hope. It should have ended in hope for them as a reversal of Anakin's story. It's a bitter note that Han was willing to give his life to save his son, that Leia believed she could get him back, that Luke believed he could be saved, that they all fought for him, only for him to die in the end. Yes, he did become Ben again but to then immediately die?! Plus we learned that Leia chose to turn away from being a Jedi because she saw a vision of Ben dying... and then he dies anyway?
Plus then there's Rey and I think the kiss makes it worse actually. Rey believed in him, that he would turn and join her - and he did! Like his family, she thought he was savable. He was! But the kiss makes it even more than that. That's Rey, our hero, who made the right choices and turned from the temptation of the dark, and worked through her family legacy and defeated the big bad herself through force of will - wanting something. For herself. She wanted Ben. She had romantic feelings for him. And her reward is to immediately lose him. :( She doesn't get that specific happiness she wants and frankly deserves and boo to that too.
+ Also this is a movie of fake out deaths! First Chewie, then C3PO, so where's our third? Fake it out! A big deal is made of the connection between Rey and Kylo and how they're a duality/dyad, so why not have Rey share back some of that life force in a way that leaves them both alive? We've seen how powerful that force ghosts can be why not have the Skywalker ghosts show up and use that power to save him?
+ Rey/Ben were amazing in every scene they had. I love them so much. I honestly did not think the movie would make them explicitly canon and I fucking loved it. Just everything about them was so good.
- That last scene!! ♥ I love the way he cradled her in his arms. I loved her hand on his. I loved her gently touching his face. I loved her smile at him when she said Ben. I loved his grin back at her. Ben full on grinned! There was joy on his face! It was such a beautiful scene. Then they kissed! Rey kissed him! Also on a more angsty note - I love that he made a clear and conscious choice to give his life for hers.
- I am so delight by the force bond and how it's used. Rey passing her lightsaber behind her back to Ben was the best. ♥ Amazing moment. Him grabbing her necklace to track down her location was great. I loved that it was Rey in Kylo's rooms and Kylo in Kajimi during that scene. I loved them fighting through the force bond and how the things around them passed through space to end up in the opposite location. I am actually so curious about just how far this could have gone with more time passed and if they had actively worked to use it. Could they have used their bond to move through space?
- I loved the Force bond/Kylo messing with Rey's training. Did he do that on purpose? I rather love that idea.
- The Kylo vs Rey fight on the Death Star remains was amazing. I think it might actually be my favourite lightsaber battle. I loved them stopping each other's lightsabers. I loved how evenly matched they are.
- Rey taking Kylo's distraction as an opportunity to stab him was great. Rey then proceeding to heal his wound was also great. I loved it all.
- Ben frantically rushing into the Sith temple to be there for Rey was A+. I loved that he was only carrying a blaster (possibly he should have thought through throwing away his lightsaber even though I get why he did and loved it).
- I loved Rey confirming that she did want to take his hand - Ben's hand. Kylo offers his hand to Rey twice and both times she rejects it. How amazing would it have been for him to stand up and offer his hand once again to Rey at the end only for her to accept it this time? OR! For her to have stood and offered her hand?
- Kylo continuing to be firmly on team 'join me' still was great. I think it really works because he thinks it's too late for him to choose light and yet he wants Rey, so really it's the only option. I love that his take away from meeting Palpatine was to find Rey and ask her to join him in killing him together. Aw. I loved him offering her his hand again.
- In most of their interactions Rey seemed rather hostile towards Kylo which seemed a little strange since in their final scene of TLJ she came off disappointed, sad and closed off but not angry.
+ I am very disappointed that we didn't get Rey and Ben fighting Palpatine together. We got that awesome shot of Rey and Ben, side by side with their lightsabers lit (awesome!), and then they're immediately taken down by Palpatine. We never get to see them fighting together. :( What a let down.
+ I am really disappointed that Ben never fights Palpatine at all and doesn't add any significant advantage/help in the battle against Palpatine which is... weird? Kylo kept saying that he would 'finish what you started grandfather' and here we have the Emperor alive again, Darth Vader's attempt to kill him having failed - here is Ben's chance to actually do what he said! He can literally finish what Darth Vader started! And... he doesn't. He's not really a part of it for some reason? I don't get?
I loved Rey the receptacle of all the Jedi taking down Palpatine with the two lightsabers. I loved it as a big hero moment for her. But when I think of what was done with Ben I find myself so unsatisfied by it. So what if instead we'd had Ben climb out of the pit, take up the skywalker lightsaber and cross sabers with Rey to help her take him down, together? Or, maybe better he climbs out and adds his strength to hers while she takes Palpatine down. I mean, Palpatine notes that they're a dyad, light and dark (become light again), and I feel like that should have come into play. Them working together with the power of the Jedi behind them, working as one to defeat Palpatine for good. That would have felt more satisfactory.
+ Palpatine pointing out the bond between Rey and Ben, commenting on their power and the strength of it, and how they are a dyad was amazing. I seriously need to rewatch so I can remember exactly what he said because I mostly remember how pleased I was in that moment.
+ I found Rey's complete lack of any noticeable grief/regret/sadness post-Exegol very strange and off-putting. Not that I wanted her weeping or unhappy but I wanted some indication that she'd lost someone important to her. Which she very clearly did! And he died to save her life. At the very least you'd think that losing a Force bond would have a negative affect on a person. Even a short scene of her looking sad as she exits the x-wing, hugging Chewie/Rose/whoever and when asked if she's okay replying that "she will be" would have been better.
+ One of my biggest issues with the movie was that force ghost Ben wasn't there at the end with Luke and Leia. His body disappeared so he does became a Force ghost. (Right?) So it felt really incomplete for him not to be there. I think I'd be slightly more able to accept Ben's death if he had been reunited with his family in the end and it had been all of the Skywalkers standing there. I can already tell that this is going to be like the Chewie-walks-past-Leia scene in TFA for 'will never let go of this, grudgy muttering bitterness, ever' for me, just complete 'WTF were you thinking??!' at failing a very basic character/relationship beat.
+ One thing noticeably absent from these movies was Anakin. I'm not sure why, tbh. This is the end of a journey that began with him and he should be there for it as more then a voice. He's such a major focus in all these movies and to have him almost completely absent in this movie was weird. They brought back Palpatine! Force ghost Anakin should have been there too. He should have had a part in Palpatine's end.
+ Another place Anakin could have worked well was seeing him with Kylo and being part of what convinces Ben that he isn't too far gone or beyond saving and that he can choose Light/the right path/to do good.
+ Oh, what should have happened at the end was Rey seeing Luke/Leia, Ben walks up beside his mother and then suddenly Anakin is there at Luke's side. The line of Skywalker watching over the new Skywalker. It would have done a ton to make this as the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga sit better for me.
+ I wish we'd seen the Force ghosts for some (or all) of those voices we'd heard (especially Anakin, ObiWan and Luke) but I did love getting to hear them encouraging and supporting Rey.
+ Rey going to Tatooine and the Lars homestead to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers was lovely.
+ I really loved how much Leia we got. Considering the constraints they were under I think they did a great job. I wanted her to survive the movie, though I knew it was a long shot, but as with Luke I found her death very satisfying and meaningful. I love that it wasn't her dying off-screen or being killed by the bad guys. I love that she projected her thoughts to Kylo in a final push to save him and Rey. I love that she was a major part of his turn from Kylo to Ben. I love that she became a Force ghost. I thought she looked great.
All that said I do think it could have been done better. I wish the movie had shown the circumstances of Leia's death more effectively. It seems like Leia was faltering before she reached out to Ben. That she reached out as her last act before death. Fine. But they should have shown Leia being unwell in her earlier scenes and made it explicit that she was dying. Actually a great way to have done this was to have Rey sharing her life force/healing Leia (thus setting up that ability) and making it part of Rey's reluctance to leave the planet. She's keeping Leia well and thus her leaving has actual consequences that both Rey and Leia know - and Leia sends her off anyway.
In addition to that I really wanted more then Leia sending out 'Ben' as she's dying. Luke died projecting himself into a different system and fully interacting with Leia and Kylo, and I wish her death had included her projecting herself to Kylo. Having her physically appear to him and say 'Ben', have them see each other one last time, would have been enough for me. (Even if what I really wanted was a scene like the Han/Ben one.)
+ Kylo has a line that I'm going to need to rewatch to remember but it was basically him telling Rey that it was too late for him (for Ben to return to his mother/home) and it was heartbreaking. And then Leia dies and it is too late, :( And then we don't even see them reunited as force ghosts :(:( ETA: I saw a gif of the scene I was thinking of and it was Kylo telling Rey - "You wanted to prove to my mother that you were a Jedi but you've proven something else. You can't go back to her now. Like a can't." D: Yup, absolutely as heartbreaking as I remember. I love it. The fact that we never see him get back with her makes it even worse. :(
BUT! He felt her when she died, and I think based on her 'Ben' he also got her love for him, and thus he learned that she did still love and it was part of the turning point for him. She showed him that he could go back, even if it was no long to her, and I loved that too.
+ I loved that Kylo's return to Ben wasn't Rey saving/redeeming him. I like that it was a collection of things. Rey saving his life and revealing she wanted to take Ben's hand. Leia's death. Leia reaching out to him in love. Palpatine's presence as a greater evil. Kylo reliving the final moment with his father again - and getting the chance to redo that choice (which only caused grief not clarity). And probably a few other things I can't think of.
+ I loved what we saw of Ben Solo. Even though he literally says nothing other than 'ow' after he throws away his lightsaber you still manage to get a surprisingly good indication of who he is. I wish we could have seen more of this version of him.
+ I didn't know Harrison Ford was coming back so him showing up was a complete surprise. I loved it. It made me very emotional. I loved hearing Ben call him dad. I loved Han cupping Ben's face again and the repeat of the bridge scene with Ben asking his dad for help again and this time turning and throwing away the lightsaber he used to kill his father. Great scene.
+ A part of me thinks if Carrie had lived it would have been her there with Ben instead of Han and I'm sad we didn't get that. But then again maybe not. Still I'm sad we never got a Ben/Leia reunion at all. Leia wanted her son back so badly and I wanted a scene of her getting that. Boo.
+ Force ghost Luke arriving to mentor Rey one last time made me so happy. I loved him saving the lightsaber and the irony of him saying "that's not how you treat a lightsaber" which worked really well to showcase Luke's own growth from where he was emotionally when they first met to where he's at now. I loved that he gave her hope. That he told her he was wrong to exile himself out of fear and she would be wrong if she did the same thing. I loved him lifting his x-wing out of the sea for her to fly. Good use of force ghost Luke -- except it could have been better. Was he stuck on Ahch-To for some reason? I wanted force ghost Luke helping to train Rey, force ghost Luke and Leia, and especially force ghost Luke/Kylo.
I am really disappointed that we didn't get a force ghost Luke/Kylo scene! The last words he said were "See you around, kid" - he needs to see him around. I was so hoping for Luke haunting Kylo. Considering how Ben fell in the first place and how things ended between them, a Luke/Ben scene was really needed, imo, and I was hoping that Luke would be a part of Ben's return to the light.
In general I would have liked more force ghost Luke and force ghost Leia and frankly all the force ghosts.
+ I loved that Rey ended up finding Exegol by following the trail Luke had already forged in his own search for it, and that his notes in the Jedi texts ended up helping.
+ I loved Rey's training sequence especially her losing her temper and switching to her staff to stab the practice droid into a tree.
+ I am deeply DEEPLY aggravated that they used Rey's newly discovered lineage as an explanation for her being drawn to the dark/her inner darkness. No. Rey has inner darkness and is full of anger because she was abandoned as a child and then lived a lonely and dangerous life without anyone for far too long. She earned that anger. It has nothing to do with being a Palpatine! Grrr. Also! Her power now being all about Palpatine, that she owes it all to her lineage is dumb and I don't accept it.
+ I loved the use of the Force in this movie - the Force bond and everything about how it worked, Rey stopping the First Order transport and her and Kylo's tug-a-war over it ending in it being ripped apart, Rey's force lightning (!), the Force healing, force ghost Luke lifting his x-wing from the sea, Rey and Kylo both stopping the other's lightsaber, the force jumps and probably so many other scenes I can't remember right now. Everything about the Force in this movie was A+ excellent.
+ Rey Palpatine! Man, I have been on a journey over these movies over this. I was hoping Rey Skywalker for the first movie and going into the second. The second then sold me on Rey Nobody. Eventually I ended up loving the idea. Anyone could be a Jedi; anyone could be massively strong in the Force; it didn't matter about bloodlines. That seemed pretty great. Except now, nope, bloodlines it is! And... okay? I feel so wishy-washy over this, lol. I very much prefer Rey Nobody but also I don't really care that much apparently. In itself Rey's background doesn't really bother me, she's awesome as she is. A Palpatine, fine whatever. Except the way they went about it annoys me. I think that's one of the main reasons I love Rey Nobody - her power is her own, and I really dislike how this movie tries to make it about Palpatine. But my main thought about this reveal: dare I hope that this might finally stop people from calling Rey a Mary Sue?
+ I liked that short fight Rey had with the Sith version of herself. It ended up really working for me. I only wish we'd seen more of that. Of Rey being physically haunted by this possible future version of herself at various different points in the journey. When she looked at the Sith throne I was really expecting to see a vision of Sith Rey on it.
+ I liked that once again it was Palpatine's arrogance that was his downfall. It's the Sith's greatest weakness and he just doesn't learn. If he hadn't told, no, gloated to Rey about his entire evil plan it might have actually worked. She went there to kill him! He's the bad guy, the big evil, and the good guys kill them. But, no, he couldn't help but crow about how he wants her to kill him so he can live in her forever. Dude, just shut up for a moment! I think in other circumstances this might have bothered me but because it was Palpatine it worked for me.
+ I did not believe for a second that Rey would turn to the dark and follow Palpatine's plan. I mean no one would believe it but I feel like they could have done a better job to show Rey desperate and how the darkness has been affecting her. I'm not sure entirely what I wanted different here because it was never a real possibility but something about that moment fell flat for me. In fact a lot of Rey's temptation by the Dark didn't completely gel for me? I'm going to have to watch again to figure out why.
As with all of the movies there are issues but I came out of the theatre more pleased than not. But, man, that end was an emotional roller coaster that I'm still not over. It gave some huge highs and lows. I'm finding the longer I sit with it the more dissatisfied I am with some of the choices made. I'm interested in how this shakes out for me long-term.
I'm going to start with two points of deep love and enjoyment:
+ That last shot of Force ghosts Luke and Leia, together after death, watching over Rey got me straight in the heart. They're together again. ♥♥ Not gonna lie I can forgive a lot just for that.
+ So much damn love for the Luke/Leia flashback. Luke trained Leia to be a Jedi! ♥ She had a lightsaber! (I want that movie.) Leia training Rey and Rey calling her Master Leia - ♥ Leia was Jedi Master Leia!! It made me so unbelievably happy.
Regardless of how else I might feel I love those two things so much and that's never going to change. On the other hand...
+ I am really so very bummed that Ben died! D: It honestly was a bit of a gut punch. I knew going in it there was a distinct possibility but I think I convinced myself it wouldn't happen? It didn't make sense to me as an ending. But as soon as I realised that Rey was really dead I knew there was an almost 100% chance Ben was going to die to save her. To use his life force to bring her back from the dead clearly had only one ending. But, ugh, I'm so sad about it! I mean I do prefer him choosing to give his life in exchange for Rey's to him being killed by Palpatine. That was great. But the longer I sit with it the more upset I feel about it, tbh. This isn't how his story should have ended! It's not how the Skywalker story should have ended. They've always been a tragedy but I wanted more than that for their end!
For Ben in himself this is so deeply sad. The Emperor twisted and corrupted him the same way he did his grandfather. He tells Kylo that "I was every voice inside your head" but the movies don't state how far back this goes. Was he influencing Ben his entire life? It's as if Ben never had a chance. And then Ben does choose better! He frees himself from the Dark and the Emperor's influence and chooses to do the right thing, only to die quicky afterwards. I find that so unsatisfying.
As an end to the Skywalker saga, as the the end to Ben and to Luke/Leia/Han's family this is not sitting well with me either. I was half expecting redemption and death but I really didn't want it. We're been there and done that at the beginning of the saga with Anakin. I wanted this story to end in hope. It should have ended in hope for them as a reversal of Anakin's story. It's a bitter note that Han was willing to give his life to save his son, that Leia believed she could get him back, that Luke believed he could be saved, that they all fought for him, only for him to die in the end. Yes, he did become Ben again but to then immediately die?! Plus we learned that Leia chose to turn away from being a Jedi because she saw a vision of Ben dying... and then he dies anyway?
Plus then there's Rey and I think the kiss makes it worse actually. Rey believed in him, that he would turn and join her - and he did! Like his family, she thought he was savable. He was! But the kiss makes it even more than that. That's Rey, our hero, who made the right choices and turned from the temptation of the dark, and worked through her family legacy and defeated the big bad herself through force of will - wanting something. For herself. She wanted Ben. She had romantic feelings for him. And her reward is to immediately lose him. :( She doesn't get that specific happiness she wants and frankly deserves and boo to that too.
+ Also this is a movie of fake out deaths! First Chewie, then C3PO, so where's our third? Fake it out! A big deal is made of the connection between Rey and Kylo and how they're a duality/dyad, so why not have Rey share back some of that life force in a way that leaves them both alive? We've seen how powerful that force ghosts can be why not have the Skywalker ghosts show up and use that power to save him?
+ Rey/Ben were amazing in every scene they had. I love them so much. I honestly did not think the movie would make them explicitly canon and I fucking loved it. Just everything about them was so good.
- That last scene!! ♥ I love the way he cradled her in his arms. I loved her hand on his. I loved her gently touching his face. I loved her smile at him when she said Ben. I loved his grin back at her. Ben full on grinned! There was joy on his face! It was such a beautiful scene. Then they kissed! Rey kissed him! Also on a more angsty note - I love that he made a clear and conscious choice to give his life for hers.
- I am so delight by the force bond and how it's used. Rey passing her lightsaber behind her back to Ben was the best. ♥ Amazing moment. Him grabbing her necklace to track down her location was great. I loved that it was Rey in Kylo's rooms and Kylo in Kajimi during that scene. I loved them fighting through the force bond and how the things around them passed through space to end up in the opposite location. I am actually so curious about just how far this could have gone with more time passed and if they had actively worked to use it. Could they have used their bond to move through space?
- I loved the Force bond/Kylo messing with Rey's training. Did he do that on purpose? I rather love that idea.
- The Kylo vs Rey fight on the Death Star remains was amazing. I think it might actually be my favourite lightsaber battle. I loved them stopping each other's lightsabers. I loved how evenly matched they are.
- Rey taking Kylo's distraction as an opportunity to stab him was great. Rey then proceeding to heal his wound was also great. I loved it all.
- Ben frantically rushing into the Sith temple to be there for Rey was A+. I loved that he was only carrying a blaster (possibly he should have thought through throwing away his lightsaber even though I get why he did and loved it).
- I loved Rey confirming that she did want to take his hand - Ben's hand. Kylo offers his hand to Rey twice and both times she rejects it. How amazing would it have been for him to stand up and offer his hand once again to Rey at the end only for her to accept it this time? OR! For her to have stood and offered her hand?
- Kylo continuing to be firmly on team 'join me' still was great. I think it really works because he thinks it's too late for him to choose light and yet he wants Rey, so really it's the only option. I love that his take away from meeting Palpatine was to find Rey and ask her to join him in killing him together. Aw. I loved him offering her his hand again.
- In most of their interactions Rey seemed rather hostile towards Kylo which seemed a little strange since in their final scene of TLJ she came off disappointed, sad and closed off but not angry.
+ I am very disappointed that we didn't get Rey and Ben fighting Palpatine together. We got that awesome shot of Rey and Ben, side by side with their lightsabers lit (awesome!), and then they're immediately taken down by Palpatine. We never get to see them fighting together. :( What a let down.
+ I am really disappointed that Ben never fights Palpatine at all and doesn't add any significant advantage/help in the battle against Palpatine which is... weird? Kylo kept saying that he would 'finish what you started grandfather' and here we have the Emperor alive again, Darth Vader's attempt to kill him having failed - here is Ben's chance to actually do what he said! He can literally finish what Darth Vader started! And... he doesn't. He's not really a part of it for some reason? I don't get?
I loved Rey the receptacle of all the Jedi taking down Palpatine with the two lightsabers. I loved it as a big hero moment for her. But when I think of what was done with Ben I find myself so unsatisfied by it. So what if instead we'd had Ben climb out of the pit, take up the skywalker lightsaber and cross sabers with Rey to help her take him down, together? Or, maybe better he climbs out and adds his strength to hers while she takes Palpatine down. I mean, Palpatine notes that they're a dyad, light and dark (become light again), and I feel like that should have come into play. Them working together with the power of the Jedi behind them, working as one to defeat Palpatine for good. That would have felt more satisfactory.
+ Palpatine pointing out the bond between Rey and Ben, commenting on their power and the strength of it, and how they are a dyad was amazing. I seriously need to rewatch so I can remember exactly what he said because I mostly remember how pleased I was in that moment.
+ I found Rey's complete lack of any noticeable grief/regret/sadness post-Exegol very strange and off-putting. Not that I wanted her weeping or unhappy but I wanted some indication that she'd lost someone important to her. Which she very clearly did! And he died to save her life. At the very least you'd think that losing a Force bond would have a negative affect on a person. Even a short scene of her looking sad as she exits the x-wing, hugging Chewie/Rose/whoever and when asked if she's okay replying that "she will be" would have been better.
+ One of my biggest issues with the movie was that force ghost Ben wasn't there at the end with Luke and Leia. His body disappeared so he does became a Force ghost. (Right?) So it felt really incomplete for him not to be there. I think I'd be slightly more able to accept Ben's death if he had been reunited with his family in the end and it had been all of the Skywalkers standing there. I can already tell that this is going to be like the Chewie-walks-past-Leia scene in TFA for 'will never let go of this, grudgy muttering bitterness, ever' for me, just complete 'WTF were you thinking??!' at failing a very basic character/relationship beat.
+ One thing noticeably absent from these movies was Anakin. I'm not sure why, tbh. This is the end of a journey that began with him and he should be there for it as more then a voice. He's such a major focus in all these movies and to have him almost completely absent in this movie was weird. They brought back Palpatine! Force ghost Anakin should have been there too. He should have had a part in Palpatine's end.
+ Another place Anakin could have worked well was seeing him with Kylo and being part of what convinces Ben that he isn't too far gone or beyond saving and that he can choose Light/the right path/to do good.
+ Oh, what should have happened at the end was Rey seeing Luke/Leia, Ben walks up beside his mother and then suddenly Anakin is there at Luke's side. The line of Skywalker watching over the new Skywalker. It would have done a ton to make this as the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga sit better for me.
+ I wish we'd seen the Force ghosts for some (or all) of those voices we'd heard (especially Anakin, ObiWan and Luke) but I did love getting to hear them encouraging and supporting Rey.
+ Rey going to Tatooine and the Lars homestead to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers was lovely.
+ I really loved how much Leia we got. Considering the constraints they were under I think they did a great job. I wanted her to survive the movie, though I knew it was a long shot, but as with Luke I found her death very satisfying and meaningful. I love that it wasn't her dying off-screen or being killed by the bad guys. I love that she projected her thoughts to Kylo in a final push to save him and Rey. I love that she was a major part of his turn from Kylo to Ben. I love that she became a Force ghost. I thought she looked great.
All that said I do think it could have been done better. I wish the movie had shown the circumstances of Leia's death more effectively. It seems like Leia was faltering before she reached out to Ben. That she reached out as her last act before death. Fine. But they should have shown Leia being unwell in her earlier scenes and made it explicit that she was dying. Actually a great way to have done this was to have Rey sharing her life force/healing Leia (thus setting up that ability) and making it part of Rey's reluctance to leave the planet. She's keeping Leia well and thus her leaving has actual consequences that both Rey and Leia know - and Leia sends her off anyway.
In addition to that I really wanted more then Leia sending out 'Ben' as she's dying. Luke died projecting himself into a different system and fully interacting with Leia and Kylo, and I wish her death had included her projecting herself to Kylo. Having her physically appear to him and say 'Ben', have them see each other one last time, would have been enough for me. (Even if what I really wanted was a scene like the Han/Ben one.)
+ Kylo has a line that I'm going to need to rewatch to remember but it was basically him telling Rey that it was too late for him (for Ben to return to his mother/home) and it was heartbreaking. And then Leia dies and it is too late, :( And then we don't even see them reunited as force ghosts :(:( ETA: I saw a gif of the scene I was thinking of and it was Kylo telling Rey - "You wanted to prove to my mother that you were a Jedi but you've proven something else. You can't go back to her now. Like a can't." D: Yup, absolutely as heartbreaking as I remember. I love it. The fact that we never see him get back with her makes it even worse. :(
BUT! He felt her when she died, and I think based on her 'Ben' he also got her love for him, and thus he learned that she did still love and it was part of the turning point for him. She showed him that he could go back, even if it was no long to her, and I loved that too.
+ I loved that Kylo's return to Ben wasn't Rey saving/redeeming him. I like that it was a collection of things. Rey saving his life and revealing she wanted to take Ben's hand. Leia's death. Leia reaching out to him in love. Palpatine's presence as a greater evil. Kylo reliving the final moment with his father again - and getting the chance to redo that choice (which only caused grief not clarity). And probably a few other things I can't think of.
+ I loved what we saw of Ben Solo. Even though he literally says nothing other than 'ow' after he throws away his lightsaber you still manage to get a surprisingly good indication of who he is. I wish we could have seen more of this version of him.
+ I didn't know Harrison Ford was coming back so him showing up was a complete surprise. I loved it. It made me very emotional. I loved hearing Ben call him dad. I loved Han cupping Ben's face again and the repeat of the bridge scene with Ben asking his dad for help again and this time turning and throwing away the lightsaber he used to kill his father. Great scene.
+ A part of me thinks if Carrie had lived it would have been her there with Ben instead of Han and I'm sad we didn't get that. But then again maybe not. Still I'm sad we never got a Ben/Leia reunion at all. Leia wanted her son back so badly and I wanted a scene of her getting that. Boo.
+ Force ghost Luke arriving to mentor Rey one last time made me so happy. I loved him saving the lightsaber and the irony of him saying "that's not how you treat a lightsaber" which worked really well to showcase Luke's own growth from where he was emotionally when they first met to where he's at now. I loved that he gave her hope. That he told her he was wrong to exile himself out of fear and she would be wrong if she did the same thing. I loved him lifting his x-wing out of the sea for her to fly. Good use of force ghost Luke -- except it could have been better. Was he stuck on Ahch-To for some reason? I wanted force ghost Luke helping to train Rey, force ghost Luke and Leia, and especially force ghost Luke/Kylo.
I am really disappointed that we didn't get a force ghost Luke/Kylo scene! The last words he said were "See you around, kid" - he needs to see him around. I was so hoping for Luke haunting Kylo. Considering how Ben fell in the first place and how things ended between them, a Luke/Ben scene was really needed, imo, and I was hoping that Luke would be a part of Ben's return to the light.
In general I would have liked more force ghost Luke and force ghost Leia and frankly all the force ghosts.
+ I loved that Rey ended up finding Exegol by following the trail Luke had already forged in his own search for it, and that his notes in the Jedi texts ended up helping.
+ I loved Rey's training sequence especially her losing her temper and switching to her staff to stab the practice droid into a tree.
+ I am deeply DEEPLY aggravated that they used Rey's newly discovered lineage as an explanation for her being drawn to the dark/her inner darkness. No. Rey has inner darkness and is full of anger because she was abandoned as a child and then lived a lonely and dangerous life without anyone for far too long. She earned that anger. It has nothing to do with being a Palpatine! Grrr. Also! Her power now being all about Palpatine, that she owes it all to her lineage is dumb and I don't accept it.
+ I loved the use of the Force in this movie - the Force bond and everything about how it worked, Rey stopping the First Order transport and her and Kylo's tug-a-war over it ending in it being ripped apart, Rey's force lightning (!), the Force healing, force ghost Luke lifting his x-wing from the sea, Rey and Kylo both stopping the other's lightsaber, the force jumps and probably so many other scenes I can't remember right now. Everything about the Force in this movie was A+ excellent.
+ Rey Palpatine! Man, I have been on a journey over these movies over this. I was hoping Rey Skywalker for the first movie and going into the second. The second then sold me on Rey Nobody. Eventually I ended up loving the idea. Anyone could be a Jedi; anyone could be massively strong in the Force; it didn't matter about bloodlines. That seemed pretty great. Except now, nope, bloodlines it is! And... okay? I feel so wishy-washy over this, lol. I very much prefer Rey Nobody but also I don't really care that much apparently. In itself Rey's background doesn't really bother me, she's awesome as she is. A Palpatine, fine whatever. Except the way they went about it annoys me. I think that's one of the main reasons I love Rey Nobody - her power is her own, and I really dislike how this movie tries to make it about Palpatine. But my main thought about this reveal: dare I hope that this might finally stop people from calling Rey a Mary Sue?
+ I liked that short fight Rey had with the Sith version of herself. It ended up really working for me. I only wish we'd seen more of that. Of Rey being physically haunted by this possible future version of herself at various different points in the journey. When she looked at the Sith throne I was really expecting to see a vision of Sith Rey on it.
+ I liked that once again it was Palpatine's arrogance that was his downfall. It's the Sith's greatest weakness and he just doesn't learn. If he hadn't told, no, gloated to Rey about his entire evil plan it might have actually worked. She went there to kill him! He's the bad guy, the big evil, and the good guys kill them. But, no, he couldn't help but crow about how he wants her to kill him so he can live in her forever. Dude, just shut up for a moment! I think in other circumstances this might have bothered me but because it was Palpatine it worked for me.
+ I did not believe for a second that Rey would turn to the dark and follow Palpatine's plan. I mean no one would believe it but I feel like they could have done a better job to show Rey desperate and how the darkness has been affecting her. I'm not sure entirely what I wanted different here because it was never a real possibility but something about that moment fell flat for me. In fact a lot of Rey's temptation by the Dark didn't completely gel for me? I'm going to have to watch again to figure out why.
